Chartreuse | Offerings
Chartreuse's "Offerings", how a Black Country four-piece retreated to an Icelandic studio five hours from Reykjavík and emerged with their most melancholic meditation on solitude and survival in 2025.
Story Behind “Offerings”
A Band Bound by Blood and Friendship
Chartreuse isn’t your typical band. The Black Country four-piece operates more like a family unit—because that’s exactly what they are. Brothers Mike (guitar, vocals) and Rory Wagstaff (drums) are joined by Rory’s long-term partner Hattie Wilson (piano, vocals) and Hattie’s childhood friend Perry Lovering (bass). These invisible strings of connection don’t just inform their relationships—they define how they write, how they perform, and how they survived the years between albums.
The path to Bless You & Be Well was marked by genuine hardship. Between their 2023 debut Morning Ritual and this second record, Wilson underwent major surgeries that forced her to learn to walk again. Lovering lost his father to cancer. These weren’t abstract themes to explore for songwriting purposes—they were the lived reality that the band carried into Flóki Studios in the summer of 2024. As Wilson told When The Horn Blows: “We were going through different things personally while making the record and taking ourselves to Iceland forced us to just be in the moment and focus on one thing.”
Two Weeks in the Midnight Sun
For their sophomore album, Chartreuse retreated to Flóki Studios, a rural recording space on the northernmost tip of Iceland—a five-hour drive from Reykjavík with the sea outside one door and a lake beyond the other. During their two-week stay in summer 2024, the sun never set. The band played poker at 3 AM using dry pasta as chips, unable to distinguish night from day.
Working with producer Sam Petts-Davies (The Smile, Radiohead), Chartreuse embraced spontaneity. “It’s not that we were loose with it,” Mike Wagstaff explained. “It was more about not letting ourselves talk our way out of decisions or second-guess choices we were making in the moment. If it sounded good, it stayed.” Some songs arrived nearly finished; others were bare bones—just voice memos of the band jamming and singing nonsense syllables to capture melodies. The isolation freed them from overthinking.
“Offerings” Recording and Production Details
The Anti-Band Philosophy
Before Bless You & Be Well, Chartreuse had an almost contrarian approach to production. “Whenever we hear something that sounds familiar, we try to f*ck it up in some way,” Mike explained of their earlier work. They were, in their own words, “anti-band.” But working with Petts-Davies shifted something. “You are a band and this is how you sound, so let’s just run with it,” the producer told them. That freedom—to simply be themselves without constant subversion—unlocked new emotional territory.
“Offerings” sits at the album’s midpoint as track five, marking a turn toward darker, more introspective waters. Reviewers have described it as “gritty and melancholic,” with a faster pace and more intense energy than the tracks surrounding it. Where “I’m Losing It” breathes with finger-picked acoustic guitar and heavenly harmonies, “Offerings” pulls inward, its subtle organ-y sounds swelling slowly beneath vocals that shift from melodic to somber.
The Egalitarian Sound
One of Chartreuse’s defining traits is their refusal to establish a frontperson. Mike and Hattie trade lead vocals; instruments shift fluidly between members based on what serves each song best. On “Offerings,” this approach creates a sense of collective introversion—the track feels less like a performance and more like overhearing a private confession.
The production balances intimacy with expansiveness, moving between clarity and dreamlike textures. Petts-Davies encouraged the band to trust their instincts, capturing first-take energy rather than polishing imperfections away. There’s a rawness to the arrangement that reflects the album’s cathartic purpose—music as therapy, made by people who genuinely needed it.
Notes About “Offerings” by Chartreuse
Release Date: August 29, 2025
Duration: 3:36
Genre: Indie Rock / Alternative Folk / Art Rock
Album: Bless You & Be Well (2nd studio album, track 5 of 11)
Producer: Sam Petts-Davies (The Smile, Radiohead)
Label: Communion Records
Recording Location: Flóki Studios, Northern Iceland (Summer 2024)
Format: Available on vinyl (Gold LP edition), CD, and digital
Chartreuse “Offerings” Era Band Details
Album Details
Album: Bless You & Be Well
Release Date: August 29, 2025
Label: Communion Records
Producer: Sam Petts-Davies
Recording Location: Flóki Studios, Northern Iceland
Recording Period: Two weeks, Summer 2024
Total Length: 11 tracks, approximately 36 minutes
Band Members
Mike Wagstaff - Guitar, Vocals
Hattie Wilson - Piano, Vocals
Rory Wagstaff - Drums
Perry Lovering - Bass
Production Credits
Producer: Sam Petts-Davies (known for work with The Smile, Radiohead)
Recording: Flóki Studios, Iceland
Mixed/Mastered: Details not publicly confirmed
Discography Context
2019: Even Free Money Doesn’t Get Me Out Of Bed (Debut EP, via [PIAS])
2020: Keep Checking Up On Me (EP, partly produced by Luke Smith)
2021: Is It Autumn Already? (EP)
2023: Morning Ritual (Debut album, Communion Records)
2025: Bless You & Be Well (Second album, Communion Records)
Interesting Facts About “Offerings”
The Elixir of Long Life
The band’s name itself tells a story. Perry’s sister suggested “Chartreuse” after they struggled to find an identity. They discovered the word refers not just to the color but to a French liqueur created by Carthusian monks in 1737, marketed as “the elixir of long life.” Given the themes of mortality, loss, and survival that run through Bless You & Be Well, the name feels almost prophetic. When asked about favorite cocktails, the band’s answer was telling: Mike, Perry, and Rory love a Mezcal Negroni; Hattie prefers a classic margarita.
The title track’s phrase—”bless you and be well”—originated from something Mike wrote at 20, in the early days of a relationship. He described it as “a backhanded goodbye. Kind, but final.” That duality runs through “Offerings” too: a track that sits in solitude but reaches outward, that survives impatience but acknowledges life isn’t long enough to make a home.
From the Black Country to the World
Chartreuse have quietly built an impressive live reputation despite their understated approach. They’ve supported Palace at Hammersmith Apollo, toured America with Local Natives, and become regulars on the UK festival circuit. But their roots remain firmly in Birmingham—they still cite the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath as their favorite venue and recommend a hand-pulled noodle place called Dezhou Style Braised Chicken.
Their connection to British electronic producer Leon Vynehall has also expanded their reach. Chartreuse contributed vocals to “You Strange Precious Thing” on Vynehall’s October 2025 album In Daytona Yellow, with Clash Magazine describing their performance as “as affecting as they are haunting.” It’s a collaboration that positions them at the intersection of indie intimacy and electronic experimentation—exactly where their sound has always lived.
Common Questions
Q: What is “Offerings” by Chartreuse about? A: The track explores themes of solitude, survival, and the feeling of not having enough time to establish a true sense of home. Its lyrics touch on desperate pleas, impatiently surviving “in the dark of dim lit pride,” and taking only what’s needed while leaving the rest behind.
Q: Who are Chartreuse? A: Chartreuse is a four-piece band from the Black Country near Birmingham, UK. The group consists of brothers Mike and Rory Wagstaff, Rory’s partner Hattie Wilson, and Hattie’s childhood friend Perry Lovering. They formed in 2014 and released their debut EP in 2019.
Q: Where was Bless You & Be Well recorded? A: The album was recorded at Flóki Studios in northern Iceland during summer 2024. The remote studio is five hours north of Reykjavík, with a lake outside one door and the sea beyond the other. Producer Sam Petts-Davies (The Smile) helmed the sessions.
Q: What genre is Chartreuse? A: Chartreuse blend elements of indie rock, folk, jazz, and alternative soul. Critics have compared them to Bon Iver, The National, Lambchop, and Nick Cave, though their sound remains distinctly their own—intimate, melancholic, and rhythmically unhurried.
Q: What happened to Chartreuse between albums? A: Between Morning Ritual (2023) and Bless You & Be Well (2025), the band faced significant personal challenges. Hattie Wilson underwent major surgeries and had to relearn to walk, while Perry Lovering lost his father to cancer. These experiences deeply influenced the album’s emotional weight.